Will last minute sops swing Sikh voters?
6 Feb 2015 4:16 AM IST
Already being questioned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) over BJP’s difficult position in the national Capital, the saffron brigade is leaving no stone unturned to befriend its estranged ally — the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — once again.
Soon after the BJP came to power in the Centre, senior party leaders were finding it difficult to come out of the “winning hallucination” and started ignoring its allies. Be it in Haryana’s Janhit Congress or SAD, the differences proved to be a disaster for the ruling party over several issues.
Now, with the wave swinging more towards the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and chances of the Congress to increase its seats are higher (as compared to eight seats in the last election in 2013), BJP is going all guns blazing to prop up the Sikh card to counter AAP to a certain extent.
Both the parties have reached an agreement to woo 7 per cent Sikh voters in Delhi to secure at least four Sikh dominated seats by fielding SAD candidates, which includes Rajouri Garden (Manjinder Singh Sirsa), Hari Nagar (Avtar Singh Hit), Kalkaji (Harmeet Singh Kalka) and Shahdara (Jitender Singh Shunty).
In other Assembly constituencies too, Sikh voters will play a crucial role in terms of winning margins. The saffron party has realized that Modi’s winning stars could go down in the Delhi elections and association with SAD might become important.
The SAD holds considerable influence in the Sikh-dominated seats in the national Capital. Its candidates had won one Rajouri Garden seat and another from Shahdara in 2013. SAD leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa secured 41,721 votes and defeated Congress’ A Dhanwati Chandela who got 30,713 votes in Rajouri Garden. In Shahdara, SAD leader Jitender Singh Shunty, who fought on BJP symbol, won with 45,364 votes by defeating Congress’ Narendra Nath, who managed to get 30,247 votes.
There are nearly 10 lakh Sikh voters in Delhi and 22 out of 70 constituencies have a sizeable Sikh population. Besides, there are 715 Singh Sabhas in Delhi affiliated with the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, which is controlled by the SAD. “In this Lok Sabha election, we managed to regain support of the Sikh community in Hari Nagar and Tilak Nagar assembly segments which we had lost to AAP in the 2013 assembly polls. Their support would be very important for us in the forthcoming poll,” a senior BJP leader said.
On the other side, AAP’s Jarnail Singh, who hurled a shoe at former Union minister P Chidambaram in 2009, had lost the last election to SAD’s Sirsa from Rajouri Garden. This time, he is back with a strong support from AAP’s Sangrur Lok Sabha MP Bhagwant Mann and other leaders.
Pleasing SAD was evident by the saffron party when Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal was given Padma Vibhushan this year. Also, BJP president Amit Shah called off his January 22 agitation against Rs 6,000-crore synthetic drugs case in Punjab involving Punjab Revenue Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia. The BJP has also announced compensation for the 1984-Sikh riot victims if the party comes to power.
However, despite BJP-SAD alliance, poll surveys have claimed that the AAP is emerging as a winner
in the Delhi election.
Sikh voters’ percentage
1. New Delhi: 4%
Major Sikh areas: Moti Nagar, Patel Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Malviya Nagar, GK-I.
2. Chandni Chowk: 3.94 %
Major Sikh areas: Roshanara Road, Pratap Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Tri Nagar, Lawrence Road, Rani Bagh.
3. North East Delhi: 1.20%
Major Sikh areas: Mukherji Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Tagore Park.
4. East Delhi: 3%
Major Sikh areas: Jangpura, Bhogal, Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar.
5. North West Delhi: 2%
Major Sikh areas: Mangolpuri, Sultanpuri, Nangloi.
6. West Delhi: 9%
Major Sikh areas: Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Vishnu Garden, Janakpuri, Rajouri Garden.
7. South Delhi: 2%
Major Sikh areas: Kalkaji, East of Kailash, Saket.
Soon after the BJP came to power in the Centre, senior party leaders were finding it difficult to come out of the “winning hallucination” and started ignoring its allies. Be it in Haryana’s Janhit Congress or SAD, the differences proved to be a disaster for the ruling party over several issues.
Now, with the wave swinging more towards the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and chances of the Congress to increase its seats are higher (as compared to eight seats in the last election in 2013), BJP is going all guns blazing to prop up the Sikh card to counter AAP to a certain extent.
Both the parties have reached an agreement to woo 7 per cent Sikh voters in Delhi to secure at least four Sikh dominated seats by fielding SAD candidates, which includes Rajouri Garden (Manjinder Singh Sirsa), Hari Nagar (Avtar Singh Hit), Kalkaji (Harmeet Singh Kalka) and Shahdara (Jitender Singh Shunty).
In other Assembly constituencies too, Sikh voters will play a crucial role in terms of winning margins. The saffron party has realized that Modi’s winning stars could go down in the Delhi elections and association with SAD might become important.
The SAD holds considerable influence in the Sikh-dominated seats in the national Capital. Its candidates had won one Rajouri Garden seat and another from Shahdara in 2013. SAD leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa secured 41,721 votes and defeated Congress’ A Dhanwati Chandela who got 30,713 votes in Rajouri Garden. In Shahdara, SAD leader Jitender Singh Shunty, who fought on BJP symbol, won with 45,364 votes by defeating Congress’ Narendra Nath, who managed to get 30,247 votes.
There are nearly 10 lakh Sikh voters in Delhi and 22 out of 70 constituencies have a sizeable Sikh population. Besides, there are 715 Singh Sabhas in Delhi affiliated with the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, which is controlled by the SAD. “In this Lok Sabha election, we managed to regain support of the Sikh community in Hari Nagar and Tilak Nagar assembly segments which we had lost to AAP in the 2013 assembly polls. Their support would be very important for us in the forthcoming poll,” a senior BJP leader said.
On the other side, AAP’s Jarnail Singh, who hurled a shoe at former Union minister P Chidambaram in 2009, had lost the last election to SAD’s Sirsa from Rajouri Garden. This time, he is back with a strong support from AAP’s Sangrur Lok Sabha MP Bhagwant Mann and other leaders.
Pleasing SAD was evident by the saffron party when Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal was given Padma Vibhushan this year. Also, BJP president Amit Shah called off his January 22 agitation against Rs 6,000-crore synthetic drugs case in Punjab involving Punjab Revenue Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia. The BJP has also announced compensation for the 1984-Sikh riot victims if the party comes to power.
However, despite BJP-SAD alliance, poll surveys have claimed that the AAP is emerging as a winner
in the Delhi election.
Sikh voters’ percentage
1. New Delhi: 4%
Major Sikh areas: Moti Nagar, Patel Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Malviya Nagar, GK-I.
2. Chandni Chowk: 3.94 %
Major Sikh areas: Roshanara Road, Pratap Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Tri Nagar, Lawrence Road, Rani Bagh.
3. North East Delhi: 1.20%
Major Sikh areas: Mukherji Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Tagore Park.
4. East Delhi: 3%
Major Sikh areas: Jangpura, Bhogal, Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar.
5. North West Delhi: 2%
Major Sikh areas: Mangolpuri, Sultanpuri, Nangloi.
6. West Delhi: 9%
Major Sikh areas: Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Vishnu Garden, Janakpuri, Rajouri Garden.
7. South Delhi: 2%
Major Sikh areas: Kalkaji, East of Kailash, Saket.
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